Harvard, MIT Researchers Design 3D Printed, Self-Assembling Robots

Researchers from MIT and Harvard University have teamed up to design a 3D printed robot that can crawl like an inchworm and can assemble itself when given a jolt of electricity.

The research is part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation to develop desktop technology that would allow an average person to design, customize, and print a specialized robot in hours, according to MIT. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania also are working on the five-year, $10 million project, "An Expedition in Computing for Compiling Printable Programmable Machines."

Daniela Rus, an MIT professor and project leader, told us in an email that the robots being designed for this project could have applications in numerous fields, because they can be assembled relatively quickly and inexpensively.

Researchers from MIT and Harvard have designed an inchworm-like robot that can be 3D printed. The robots are printed out flat but can self-assemble into a desired configuration through an electric reaction.(Source: MIT)

Rus and a team from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory collaborated with Professor Robert Wood and researchers from the Harvard Microbiotics Laboratory on the robotic inchworm, which was demonstrated last week at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Germany. "Applications of this technology range from education, manufacturing, healthcare, and
entertainment," Rus said. "Rapidly fabricating and deploying new devices brings the design of robots to a new level of customization as a step towards democratizing access to robots."

For instance, the inchworm could be used to explore areas where humans can't go because they can't flatten themselves. Also, someone with a task at home that would benefit from robotic assistance could go to the local printing store, choose a blueprint from a catalogue of designs, and then customize and print a robot to solve the problem within 24 hours.

MIT said in a press release that scientists involved in the project are working on several areas of research: "developing an application programming interface for simple function specification and design; writing algorithms that would allow for control of the assembly of a device and its operations; creating an easy-to-use programming language environment; and designing new, programmable materials that would allow for automatic fabrication of robots."

So far, researchers have created two prototypes for the project that can be 3D printed -- the inchworm self-assembly robot and "a gripper that could be used by people with limited mobility."

Yes, Debera, while some of this technology seems to be evolving quickly I think you're right that it will take a bit of time before it's ready for primetime. But it's fascinating to think that human interaction will somehow be taken out of the robotic equation, that some of these robots will be truly autonomous to the point of self-assembly. It's happening now and will only become more prevalent in the future, even if it will, as you say, take time to grow.

A very informative read. The fact that it can assemble itself makes it even more fascinating. I'm looking forward to the day when we have nanoworm instead of inchworms. The application in the field of medical examination and surgery would be of great value.

This is really an interesting thing , 3D developed robot and that can assemble itself as well its really very amazing , showing how technology is growing so faster .I can sence that in future human interaction will be completely eliminated in these technologies .However 3D printing is not that easy plus it is expensive as well so this technology will take some time to grow . Usually in robots there are two hinges and shape tranformation takes place by heating the memory shape polymer, Folding of the shape takes place between two hinges .

This is really an interesting thing , 3D developed robot and that can assemble itself as well its really very amazing , showing how technology is growing so faster .I can sence that in future human interaction will be completely eliminated in these technologies .However 3D printing is not that easy plus it is expensive as well so this technology will take some time to grow . Usually in robots there are two hinges and shape tranformation takes place by heating the memory shape polymer, Folding of the shape takes place between two hinges .

Thanks for the update on this project. We covered it last year right after its initial launch: http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1392&doc_id=241989 Looks like they're making a lot of progress. Rus' CSAIL lab has come up with several leading robotics innovations, and so has the HML.

Little ebrionic Von Neuman machines. HMMM..... Will they become like the replicators of TV sci-fi and try to take over the galaxy? Who Knows? Eventually we will all say a collective OOPS! over technology gone wild. Only time will tell how when and where.

This seems like an obvious next step in the world of 3D printing. Many 3D-printed objects will need to be assembled. Self-assembly would be necessary in many cases for those items to succeed in a world where mechanical aptitude seems to be on the decline.

Combining 3D printing and advanced robotics provides great potential for a future in which people can easily design and make their own robotic devices to help them with a number of things. Robots like the Roomba vacuum cleaner are just the beginning for the ways robots can help us at home. They also have potential for disaster-relief and search-and-rescue efforts to go places where it's dangerous or impossible for humans to go. Fascinating work.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

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